Strawberry Rhubarb Pie with Oatmeal Crumb Topping

There is nothing like a sweet, warm, fresh berry pie!  A la mode this little baby and you've got yourself a completely fantastic dessert.  This pie was so easy to make and tasted so, so good.  I just love rhubarb desserts!  So I do have a tip on using rhubarb that my mom gave me which I love.  Any of you had the problem with rhubarb being too crunchy or hard for the dessert after it is cooked?  Now, thanks to my mom, I always pre-cook the rhubarb before I put it in the pie or any dessert.  I cook it in the vegetable steamer in a pan for 6 minutes until it is softened.  I've found that if I do this, the rhubarb ends up soft and perfectly blended in with the dessert.  Ya know what I'm sayin'?  Cooking it before hand has been a perfect solution for me. 

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie with Oatmeal Crumb Topping

Ingredients:
Pre-cooked Pie Shell

Pie:
2 cups strawberries, sliced
3 cups rhubarb, chopped into 1/4" pieces
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch

Topping:

1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons flour
1/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons oatmeal (any type but instant)
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt

Directions: 
1.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2.  Fill a medium pot with a little bit of water (just enough to steam the rhubarb).  Place a vegetable steamer inside the pot.  Put sliced rhubarb in vegetable steamer, cover with lid, and steam rhubarb for 6 minutes or until tender. 

3.  In a large bowl, mix together the rhubarb, sliced strawberries, sugar, and cornstarch.  Mix until well blended.  Pour the filling into the pre-cooked pie crust. 

4.  Make the crumb topping: In a large mixing bowl, combine all the topping ingredients except the butter. Cut butter into mixture with a pastry blender or two butter knives until mixture resembles coarse bread crumbs.  Spread the crumbs over the top of the pie filling. 

5.  Put foil around the edges of the pie crust so that the edges don't overcook.  Cook the pie on the center rack for 45-60 minutes at 400 or until the crumbs are a deep golden brown.  (My oven cooks hot and was done at 45 minutes maybe even less.)

6.  Now cut yourself a monstrous piece of warm pie, load it with ice cream, and enjoy!  ****Kimmy's disclaimer--Doing this everyday is not good for your diet.  There....now I've cautioned you. 

Recipe:  My little creation

Linked to:  Made it on Monday, Full Plate Thursday, Sweets for a Saturday

Raspberry Cream Pie

Seriously, I have NO will power to resist this pie.  Nope, none!  I will eat a piece of this pie everyday until it's done. (Maybe even more.) It is just absolutely delectable!  I usually only make it when we have people to share it with because if not, we end up eating it all ourselves.  And that's bad, because do you know where it truly ends up?  My back END!  The fresh raspberries with the filling just screams summer to me.  Okay, let's face it, this dessert is always screaming to me since it is probably my favorite pie ever!  The cream layer is really a vanilla custard type pudding mixed with whipping cream.  Making it a layer of heaven topped with a fresh raspberry glaze.  Divine!

Raspberry Cream Pie

Ingredients:
1 baked single pie crust
1 cup milk
1/4 cup flour
1 cups sugar, divided
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 egg yolks, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup whipping cream
2 cups fresh raspberries
1/3 cup water
2 tablespoons cornstarch

Directions:
Prepare and bake a single pie crust shell. Set aside.

In a medium saucepan combine flour, 1/2 cup sugar and the salt; stir to mix well. Add 2-3 tablespoons milk to sugar/flour and stir to create a smooth paste; add remaining milk and stir to blend. Over medium heat, stirring constantly, cook pudding mixture until it begins to bubble; continue to cook 1 minute (mixture will be thick). Stirring egg yolks constantly, spoon a small amount pudding into beaten egg yolks. Pour egg yolks back into saucepan and stir well to mix. Return pan to heat and continue to cook until mixture thickens (very thick) do not allow to bubble. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Cool pudding.

Whip cream until stiff peaks form. Stir approximately 1/4 whip cream into cool pudding mixture; fold in remaining whipped cream; spoon pudding mixture into baked pie shell, cover and chill pie for at least 1/2 to 1 hour to partially set.

In a medium saucepan, crush berries with a potato masher; add 1/2 cup sugar, cornstarch and water, mix well. Over medium heat, stirring, bring berries to a boil (berry glaze will be clear and thickened). Remove from heat and cool. Spoon berry glaze over pudding in pie shell. Refrigerate 2 hours to overnight to completely set. Garnish with an additional dollop of whipped cream, additional fresh berries and a mint leaf as desired. Makes 1 pie.

Recipe Source:  adapted from Summer's Recipes

Linked to:  Sweets for a Saturday

Banana Cream Pie

Here's a last minute pie for the Christmas festivities tomorrow. This is the best banana cream pie I have ever encountered. It doesn't have any of those imitation banana flavors or banana pudding. It does have a vanilla custard type filling with real bananas. It tastes fresh and delicious. I'm not even a huge banana fan, but this pie, oh my, I cannot resist it. I don't know why I haven't posted it before. My momma has made it my whole life. Whenever I'd be places where they offered pie, I'd think, "I'll get banana cream pie because I looooove it!" But then I began to realize, I don't love banana cream pie. I love my Momma's banana cream pie. Big difference! :)

Banana Cream Pie

Ingredients:
9-inch baked pie shell

2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups milk
4 egg yolks, slightly beaten
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon vanilla
2 large bananas
1-2 cups sweetened whipped cream

Directions:
Bake pie shell. Stir together sugar, cornstarch and salt in saucepan. Blend milk and egg yolks; gradually stir into sugar mixture. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and boils. This takes about 15-20 minutes. Boil and stir 1 minute. Remove from heat; blend in butter and vanilla. Press plastic wrap onto filling in saucepan and cool to room temperature or put in refrigerator to cool.

Peel and slice bananas; arrange layer of banana slices 1/2 inch keep in baked pie shell. Pour in cooled filling. Cover. Chill pie thoroughly, at least 2 hours. Best if chilled overnight. Just before serving, top pie with sweetened whipped cream. Then invite friends over to consume because you might be tempted to eat it all yourself.

Blackberry Cream Pie

Incredible! Wonderful! Tantalize the Taste buds Good! This pie is a new version of a previously posted favorite. This is our favorite pie recipe with a new twist. Blackberries! Here in Oregon there are tons of wild blackberries to pick along the walking trails. There nothing better than free fresh blackberries to make this pie! I could eat this pie all by myself. Not even joking.

Ingredients:

1 baked pie crust

1 cup milk

1/4 cup flour

1 cup sugar, divided

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 egg yolks, beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup whipping cream

2 cups fresh blackberries

1/3 cup water

2 tablespoons cornstarch

Directions:

Prepare and bake a single pie crust shell. Set aside.

In a medium saucepan, combine flour, 1/2 cup sugar, and the salt; stir to mix well. Add 2-3 tablespoons milk to sugar/flour and stir to create a smooth paste. Add remaining milk and stir to blend. Over medium heat, stirring constantly, cook pudding mixture until it begins to bubble; continue to cook 1 additional minute (mixture will be thick). Stirring egg yolks constantly, spoon a small amount of pudding into beaten egg yolks. Pour egg yolks into saucepan and stir well to mix. Return pan to heat and continue to cook until mixture thickens (very thick) do not allow to bubble. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Cool pudding.

Whip cream until stiff peaks form. Fold whipped cream into the cool pudding mixture. Spoon this mixture into the baked pie shell. Cover and chill pie for at least 1 hour to partially set.

In a medium saucepan, crush berries with a potato masher. (So I actually do it with my fingers because I take out the middle white part of the blackberry. I don't care to have those in the pie. Then I mash out the rest of the clumps with a masher if needed.) Add 1/2 cup sugar, cornstarch, and water; mix well. Over medium heat, stirring, bring berries to a boil (berry glaze will be clear and thickened). Remove from heat and cool. Spoon berry glaze over pudding in pie shell. Refrigerate 2 hours to overnight to set. Garnish with an additional dollop of whipped cream or berries as desired. Enjoy!

Fresh Peach Pie

This is a great peach pie recipe! This recipe is from my momma-in-law.

1 baked and cooled pie crust

Filling:

1 8 oz. package softened cream cheese

1/2 pint whipping cream

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

Use a small amount of whipping cream to blend with the cream cheese. Blend with beater. In another bowl, whip the remaining whipping cream and add powdered sugar and vanilla. Then add it to the cream cheese mixture. Pour into baked and cooled pie shell. Refrigerate at least one hour.

Topping:

1 1/2 cups finely mashed fresh peaches (about 3 medium-large peaches)

3 tsp. cornstarch

2 Tbls. sugar

Extra sliced peaches for the top

Blend together mashed peaches, cornstarch, and sugar and cook over medium heat until thick. Cool. Spoon peaches over cream cheese mixture in pie crust. Top with the peach slices. You can top with additional whipped cream if desired.

Brownie Pie

This is my brownie pie done Halloween style. The Decor is done with Nutter Butters, chocolate grahams and Halloween candy. We usually eat this every year at some point for a Halloween dessert. This dessert is great year round though without all the decor. I usually cook the brownie part in a chocolate graham cracker crust. You don't need to though. It can all be done without the graham crust. It is a delicious dessert.

Brownie Pie

4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips

4 tablespoons butter

3/4 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup nuts, chopped (optional)

Melt the chocolate chips and butter. Mix in the sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Mix in the flour and then the nuts. (If desired, pour into a chocolate graham cracker crust to bake.) Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Cool.

Place on Top of Brownie Layer:

1 (3.9 ounce) package instant chocolate pudding

1 1/4 cups cold milk

Mix well. Let it set. Then place on top of the brownie.

Place whipped topping over pudding. Refrigerate.

Raspberry Cream Pie

Okay, so it has been a long time since my mouth has watered over something, and I have craved something. But this pie did it. It was so delectable. I had just gone raspberry picking and had tons of fresh raspberries to use. Seriously, I didn't have any will power to resist this pie. I have eaten a piece everyday. (Maybe even more.) We were going to invite people to share it with, but guess what, we ended up eating it all ourselves. It was that good! Loved it!

I got this pie recipe from my friend Summer's blog. She got it from here.

Raspberry Cream Pie

Ingredients:
1 baked single pie crust
1 cup milk
1/4 cup flour
1 cups sugar, divided
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 egg yolks, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup whipping cream
2 cups fresh raspberries

1/3 cup water
2 tablespoons cornstarch

Method:
Prepare and bake a single pie crust shell. Set aside.

In a medium saucepan combine flour, 1/2 cup sugar and the salt; stir to mix well. Add 2-3 tablespoons milk to sugar/flour and stir to create a smooth paste; add remaining milk and stir to blend. Over medium heat, stirring constantly, cook pudding mixture until it begins to bubble; continue to cook 1 minute (mixture will be thick). Stirring egg yolks constantly, spoon a small amount pudding into beaten egg yolks. Pour egg yolks back into saucepan and stir well to mix. Return pan to heat and continue to cook until mixture thickens (very thick) do not allow to bubble. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Cool pudding.

Whip cream until stiff peaks form. Stir approximately 1/4 whip cream into cool pudding mixture; fold in remaining whipped cream; spoon pudding mixture into baked pie shell, cover and chill pie for at least 1/2 to 1 hour to partially set.

In a medium saucepan, crush berries with a potato masher; add 1/2 cup sugar, cornstarch and water, mix well. Over medium heat, stirring, bring berries to a boil (berry glaze will be clear and thickened). Remove from heat and cool. Spoon berry glaze over pudding in pie shell. Refrigerate 2 hours to overnight to completely set. Garnish with an additional dollop of whipped cream, additional fresh berries and a mint leaf as desired. Makes 1 pie.

Ice Cream Pie

1/2 cup chocolate syrup
1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips
2 cups crisp rice cereal
1/4 cup sour cream
1 quart cookies and cream ice cream (or any other flavor you want)
caramel syrup
butter

1. Coat bottom and sides of a pie pan lightly with butter.
2. Combine chocolate syrup and chocolate chips in a small bowl. Microwave until hot, about 45 seconds. Stir until smooth. Reserve 1/4 cup of the chocolate mixture.
3. Combine remaining chocolate mixture and cereal in a medium bowl and mix to coat cereal. Press mixture over bottom and up sides of prepared pie pan. Freeze until firm, about 15 minutes.
4. Combine reserved chocolate mixture and the sour cream in a small bowl and mix well. Spread half the ice cream in the pie pan. Drizzle with half the sour cream mixture. Top with remaining ice cream and drizzle with remaining sour cream mixture. Freeze pie, covered, until firm, about 1 hour.

Side note: I added caramel syrup to the top of mine. It was delicious. When I make it again, I will add caramel to the middle layer also. The best thing about this dessert is you can use whatever kind of ice cream you like and you can also add any toppings to the middle and top layer.